Jackson Local Schools Resource Officer Dave Trubisky estimated that when students approach him to talk, about 60 or 70 percent of their conversations concern something happening on social media. He gets calls from parents about it, too.

The behavioral data requested from school districts show school officials are catching safety threats posted on popular sites. One student threatened on Facebook to harm a high school and its occupants and was subsequently suspended out-of-school for two weeks. Another high school student made comments via Twitter that scared his or her classmates, and the student also received out-of-school suspension. Yet another student threatened to blow up a school building and kill someone and was disciplined by the district.

Plain Local Schools Superintendent Brent May said it's "unacceptable" for school districts to claim they don't understand how to use social media. In Plain, district officials keep an eye on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Kik, he said.

Sandy Valley Superintendent David Fischer said, usually, it's not the school monitoring social media sites but parents or students tipping them off about posts that raise suspicion.

"I mean, trust me, I've seen 'em all now," he said. "I don't use them, but I have seen them."

Deputy Melissa Bogunovich, resource officer for Marlington Local Schools, said part of the problem is students don't take time to cool down or walk away from an upsetting situation. When they're mad, they can turn to social media immediately. If there's a threat made, Bogunovich will take action — sometimes even file charges. But a lot of times, she said, the consequence is " just a good talking-to."